Lifting apparatus for camper coach bodies



June 30, 1964 L. T. TEW

LIFTING APPARATUS FOR CAMPER COACH BODIES Filed April 3, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR. LEO T. TEW

ATTORNEYS June 30, 1964 Filed April 5, 1961 L. T. TEW

LIFTING APPARATUS FOR CAMPER COACH BODIES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 30 LEO T. TEW

ATTORNEYS June 30, 1964 'r. TEW 3,139,266

LIFTING APPARATUS FOR CAMPER COACH BODIES Filed April 3, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,139,266 LEFTIN G APPARATUS FOR CAMPER COACH BODIES Leo T. Tew, 860 West 3rd North, Salt Lake City, Utah Filed Apr. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 100,261 8 Claims. (Cl. 254-47) This invention relates to load-lifting apparatus of the type utilized for raising and lowering unit loads with respect to supporting surfaces. It is particularly concerned with providing new and advantageous apparatus for raising and lowering camper coach bodies with respect to the ground and to the load-carrying beds of transport vehicles.

Camper coaches have become increasingly popular in recent years for a variety of purposes. These are enclosed vehicle bodies similar to house trailers, which provide minimum-area living or working quarters transportable by but separable from carrying vehicles, such as standard pick-up trucks.

Various lifting systems utilizing jacks have been employed heretofore for both placing and removing such camper coach bodies with respect to the carrying vehicles, However, even though these have been advantageous from the standpoint of convenient portability and storage in the coach itself, none have been entirely satisfactory from the standpoints of stability and ease and convenience of operation.

Principal objects in the making of the present invention have been to provide lifting apparatus of this type possessing greater stability and being more convenient and safer to use than previous apparatus employing a system of jacks, and to provide for satisfactory operation of the apparatus by only one or two persons, all while preserving convenient portability and storage.

Principal features in the accomplishment of these objects are the use of a system of individual hoisting units, instead of jacks, at the four corners of the coach, the provision for stabilization by means of sway bars interconnecting respective pairs of units at opposite sides of the coach, the provision for operating the two units at each of the opposite sides of the coach in unison by means of an interconnecting drive shaft driven from one of the units, and the provision for conveniently disassociating and disassembling the individual hoisting units from setup operating position to knock-down transport and storage position, and vice versa, by making the drive shafts and sway bars removable and the component parts of each unit slidably interfitting.

A specific embodiment of apparatus representing what is presently regarded as the best mode of carrying out the invention in actual practice is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus in operating position with respect to a camper coach body, for lifting it from the ground on which it rests;

FIG. 2, a similar view, but taken when the coach body is lifted to a position enabling the carrying bed of a pickup truck to be backed under it for loading purposes;

FIG. 3, a rear elevation corresponding to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4, a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but showing how the apparatus is used on sloping ground;

FIG. 5, a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 and drawn to a considerably larger scale;

FIG. 6, a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but with the coach body removed and intermediate portions of the hoist units and interconnecting structure broken out for convenience of illustration;

FIG. 7, a vertical section taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6;

3,139,266 Patented June 30, 1964 FIG. 8, a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 88 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9, a horizontal section taken on the line 99 of FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings:

In the illustrated construction, the lifting apparatus comprises four hoist units, two of which-designated 10- are provided with complete Winch mechanisms and two of whichdesignated 11-are provided only with winch drums. These hoist units are arranged in sets of two one of the units 10 and one of the units 11-at opposite sides of a coach body 12 and adjacent to the four corners thereof for engagement with lift plates 13 secured to the underside thereof.

Each of the hoist units 10 and 11 is preferably made up of separate components slidably interrelated for convenient setting up from knock-down condition and vice versa. Thus, each comprises a standard having a base 14 and a separate mast 15 adapted for mutual interengagement in the setting up of the unit.

The base 14 advantageously includes a length of pipe 14:: rising from a base plate 14b for receiving the mast 15 in iuterfitting, telescopic relationship, the mast 15 being itself a considerably longer length of smaller diameter pipe dimensionally adapted for the purpose. Such base also advantageously includes a bracket 140, secured, as by welding, to the base pipe 14a, for mounting the winch mechanism.

Each of the hoist units 10 and 11 includes a winch drum 16, FIG. 6, having a tubular shaft 16a journaled for rotation in a U-shaped bearing stand 17 mounted on and secured, as by bolts 18, to the bracket 140. Each of the hoist units 10 further includes winch-operating mechanism in the form of gearing 19, FIG. 7, a hand crank 20, FIG. 6, and a pawl brake 21.

A hoist carriage 22 is slidably mounted on mast 15 by means of a relatively short length of pipe 22a concentrically encircling the pipe constituting such mast. This carriage has a lift arm 22b, preferably of polygonal cross section, extending therefrom for mating engagement with a similarly formed tube portion 13a of one of the lift plates 13 secured to the coach body 12, see FIGS. 1 and 5.

Adapted for easily separable mounting at the top of the mast 15 is a tackle block 23 through which is looped the intermediate portion of a hoisting cable 24. Such tackle block has a depending shank 23a which slides into the open upper end of the pipe constituting the mast 15, and is, thus, readily removable therefrom to afford sliding separability for carriage 22 from mast 15. One end of hoisting cable 24 is wound onto winch drum 16, while the other end is separably attached to hoist carriage 22, as by means of clevis 25.

From the above, it is seen that the hoist units have major components slidably separable for the purpose of quick and convenient knock-down to easily transported and stored condition.

In order to enable practical one or two man operation of the apparatus, a unit 11 is operably connected to a unit 10 by means of a drive bar 26, whose ends are slid into the hollow interiors of the tubular shafts 16a of the winch drums 16 of such units and are clamped securely in position by means of set screws 27, FIG. 6.

In order to impart unusual stability to the apparatus, the hoist carriages 22 of each set of hoist units 10 and 11 are rigidly interconnected by a sway bar 28, FIGS. 4 and 6. For this purpose, such carriages are provided with tubular arms 22c, respectively, which extend parallel with the winch drum shafts 16a, and serve to receive opposite ends of the sway bar. Set screws 29 clamp the sway bar securely in position.

Both the drive bars 26 and the sway bars 28 are slidably separable from the hoist units and may be quickly and easily installed and removed. Drive bars 26 and the interiors of shafts 16a are advantageously of polygonal cross-section, as shown, to insure positive power transmission.

In using the apparatus on sloping ground, it is preferable to first make level spots, as at 3d, FIG. 4, for receiving and firmly seating the respective hoist units. The units it are placed on the downhill spots. If sufiicient clearance is provided between the mating parts, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, it is possible to insert drive bars 26 despite considerable difference in elevation between the units 19 and 11. The Winches of units 10 are then operated until the hoist carriages of each set are level, whereupon sway bars 28 are installed. The hoisting operation then proceeds as on level ground.

Whereas there is here illustrated and described a certain preferred construction of apparatus which I presently regard as the best mode of carrying out my invention, it should be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the inventive concepts particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed herebelow.

I claim:

1. Lifting apparatus for coach bodies which are separable from transport vehicles, comprising two hoist units, each of which includes a standard having a base and a mast arranged for mutual interengagement; a winch drum at a lower portion of said standard; a tackle block at the top of said standard; a hoist carriage slidable on said mast of the standard and having a lift arm extending therefrom for engagement with the underside of a coach body; and a hoisting cable attached at one of its ends to said hoist carriage, looping through said tackle block, and attached for winding at its other end on said winch drum; power transmission and brake means engaging the winch drum of one of said hoist units, said rake means preventing downward movement of both.

said hoist carriages during lifting of said carriages and being manually actuated to allow simultaneous downward movement of both said hoist carriages; a drive bar interconnecting the winch drum of the transmission and brake-provided hoist unit with the other hoist unit, so that winch operation of the one hoist unit will be synchronously imparted to the other; a sway bar rigidly interconnecting the hoist carriages of the hoist units; and means for operating said power transmission and brake means.

2. The lifting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base of each hoist unit comprises an upstanding length of pipe and the mast comprises a considerably longer length of pipe of diameter for a telescoping fit with the base pipe, the two being slidably separable; wherein the tackle block includes a depending shank for telescoping fit with the upper end of the mast pipe, the two being slidably separable; and wherein the hoist carriage comprises a relatively short length of pipe concentrically encircling the mast pipe as a sleeve, the two being slidably separable.

3. The lifting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base of each hoist unit further comprises a base plate and a winch-mounting bracket secured to the base pipe.

4. Lifting apparatus for coach bodies which are separable from transport vehicles, comprising four hoist units, each of which includes a standard having a base and a mast adapted for mutual interengagement, a winch drum at a lower portion of said standard, a tackle block at the top of said standard, a hoist carriage slidable on said mast of the standard and having a lift arm extending therefrom for engagement with the underside of a coach body, and a hoisting cable attached at one of its ends to said hoist carriage, for looping through said tackle block, and attached for winding at its other end on said winch drum; two of said hoisting units forming a set of hoist units; power transmission and brake means for each set of hoist units, said means engaging the winch drum of one of the hoist units of each set and said brake means automatically allowing upward movement of both said hoist carriages of the set, While preventing downward movement, and being manually actuated to allow simultaneous downward movement'of both hoist carriages; a pair of drive bars, each interconnecting the winch drum of the said one hoist unit of one set of hoist units with the winch drum of the other hoist unit of the said set of hoist units, so that winch operation of the said one hoist unit will be synchronously imparted to the said other hoist unit; a pair of sway bars, each interconnecting the hoist carriages of the two hoist units of one set of hoist units; means for operating the power transmission and brake means of each set of hoist units; and four lift plates adapted for securement to a coach body, each of said plates including lift-arm engagement means.

5. The lifting apparatus of claim 4 wherein the base of each hoist unit comprises an upstanding length of pipe and the mast comprises a considerably longer length of pipe of diameter having a telescoping fit with the base pipe, the two being slidably separable; wherein the tackle block includes a depending shank for telescoping fit with the upper end of the mast pipe, the two being slidably separable; and wherein the hoist carriage comprises a relatively short length of pipe concentrically encircling the mast pipe as a sleeve, the two being slidably separable.

6. The lifting apparatus of claim 5, wherein the base 10f each hoist unit further comprises a base plate and a winch-mounting bracket secured to the base pipe.

7. Lifting apparatus for coach bodies which are separable from transport vehicles, comprising four hoist units, two of which form a set, each of said hoist units including a standard having a base and a mast, the base comprising an upstanding length of pipe and the mast comprising a considerably longer length of pipe of a diameter having a telescoping fit with its associated base pipe, the two being slidably separable, a Winch drum at a lower portion of the standard, said winch drum comprising an open-ended, tubular shaft, a tackle block at the top of the standard, a hoist carriage slidable on the mast and having a lift arm extending therefrom for engagement with the underside of a coach body, said hoist carriage comprising a relatively short length of pipe concentrically encircling the mast pipe as a sleeve, the two being slidably separable, and a hoisting cable attached at one of its ends to said hoist carriage, looping through said tackle block, and attached at its other end to said winch drum for winding thereabout; power transmission and brake means for each set of hoist units, said means being operably associated with the winch drum of one of the hoist units of each set; a pair of drive bars, each interconnecting the winch drums of one set of hoist units so that winch operation of one hoist unit is synchronously imparted to the other hoist unit; a tubular arm on each of said hoist carriages; a pair of sway bars, each extending into the tubular arm on the hoist carriages of one set of hoist units and serving to interconnect the hoist units of one set of hoist units; means for operating the power transmission and brake means of each set of hoist units; and four lift plates adapted for securement toa coach body, each of said plates including lift-arm engagement means.

8. Lifting apparatus for coach bodies which are separable from transport vehicles, comprising two hoist units, each of which includes a standard having a base and a mast, the base comprising an upstanding length of pipe and the mast comprising a considerably longer piece of pipe of diameter for telescoping fit with the base pipe, the two being slidably separable, a winch drum comprising an open-ended, tubular shaft, secured at the lower portion of said standard, a tackle block secured to the top of said standard, said tackle block including a depending shank for telescoping fit with the upper end of the mast pipe, the two being slidably separable; a hoist carriage provided with a tubular arm extending parallel with said shaft, said hoist carriage comprising a relatively short length of pipe concentrically encircling the mast pipe as a sleeve, the two being slidably. separable, and the hoist carriage having a lift arm extending therefrom for engagement with the underside of a coach body; a hoisting cable attached at one of its ends to said hoist carriage, looping through said tackle block, and attached for Winding at its other end on said Winch drum; power transmission and brake means operably associated With the winch drum of one of said hoist units; a drive bar slidably interconnecting the shafts of the Winch drurns so that the shafts and drive bar of each set will rotate together and so that winch operation of one hoist Will be synchronously imparted to the other; a sway bar extending into the tubular arms of the hoist carriages and interconnecting the hoist carriages of the hoist units; and means for operating said power transmission and brake means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schmidt et a1 Feb. 27, 1894 Minnich Oct. 19, 1909 Klemme June 10, 1919 Schuh June 23, 1931 Gooder Aug. 30, 1932 Sandstrom Nov. 19, 1940 Trautner Apr. 14, 1953 Sales Aug. 11, 1953 Slick Aug. 9, 1955 Hott et a1. Apr. 17, 1956 Capgras May 21, 1957 Coleman Oct. 6, 1959 Barnes Aug. 8, 1961 Peterson Jan. 22, 1963 

1. LIFTING APPARATUS FOR COACH BODIES WHICH ARE SEPARABLE FROM TRANSPORT VEHICLES, COMPRISING TWO HOIST UNITS, EACH OF WHICH INCLUDES A STANDARD HAVING A BASE AND A MAST ARRANGED FOR MUTUAL INTERENGAGEMENT; A WINCH DRUM AT A LOWER PORTION OF SAID STANDARD; A TACKLE BLOCK AT THE TOP OF SAID STANDARD; A HOIST CARRIAGE SLIDABLE ON SAID MAST OF THE STANDARD AND HAVING A LIFT ARM EXTENDING THEREFROM FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE UNDERSIDE OF A COACH BODY; AND A HOISTING CABLE ATTACHED AT ONE OF ITS ENDS TO SAID HOIST CARRIAGE, LOOPING THROUGH SAID TACKLE BLOCK, AND ATTACHED FOR WINDING AT ITS OTHER END ON SAID WINCH DRUM; POWER TRANSMISSION AND BRAKE MEANS ENGAGING THE WINCH DRUM OF ONE OF SAID HOIST UNITS, SAID BRAKE MEANS PREVENTING DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF BOTH SAID HOIST CARRIAGES DURING LIFTING OF SAID CARRIAGES AND BEING MANUALLY ACTUATED TO ALLOW SIMULTANEOUS DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF BOTH SAID HOIST CARRIAGES; A DRIVE BAR INTERCONNECTING THE WINCH DRUM OF THE TRANSMISSION AND BRAKE-PROVIDED HOIST UNIT WITH THE OTHER HOIST UNIT, SO THAT WINCH OPERATION OF THE ONE HOIST UNIT WILL BE SYNCHRONOUSLY IMPARTED TO THE OTHER; A SWAY BAR RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTING THE HOIST CARRIAGES OF THE HOIST UNITS; AND MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID POWER TRANSMISSION AND BRAKE MEANS. 